An example of such a garment is a pair of ski pants, or a bib pant suit, and an example of such a device is a ski and particularly, the inside edge of the ski. When a skier makes a downhill run, he (or she) maintains control of his body in part by leaning to one side or the other while positioning his ankles and feet in close proximity to one another so as to place his center of gravity well outside the position of his feet. In doing so, the inside edge of one of his skis is stroked relatively up and down and perhaps fore and aft of the ankle of his other leg, and usually so close to it as to scrape the ankle portion of the pantleg surrounding his other leg. The repeated strokes of the ski have an abrasive effect on the ankle portion of the pantleg, and may even cut into or tear the ankle portion unless something is done to protect it against the abrasive action of the ski.
A similar but less likely effect can occur when skies are being transported to or from a site for skiing, and over one shoulder of the skier. Therefore, protection may also be needed at the shoulders of the skier's garment, and according to our invention, protection may be provided at any site desired on the garment of a skier or other user.
As used herein, the term "garment" is inclusive of a single piece garment covering the user's entire body from head to toe, or a multi-piece garment having two or more components covering, for example, the user's legs and crotch, and separately, the user's upper trunk, such as in the case of a jacket and pant combination or a jacket and bib pant combination. The term usually also suggests outerwear, though there may be an occasion when the garment is worn other than in the outside air.
Skier's have long had garments available to them with protective reinforcement on the ankle portions of the pantlegs of the garment to minimize the cumulative effect of the opposing ski edges scraping the ankle portions during skiing. But this protective reinforcement was heretofore in the form of a heavy, relatively stiff nylon broadcloth material which was superimposed on the inside of the ankle portion of each pantleg as a plain surfaced patch of the same that was extensive enough in area to intercept the ski edge there opposite when the edge was relatively stroked across the ankle portion. Each patch was sewn or otherwise secured to the ankle portion, or incorporated into the pantleg as a laminate therewith, and effectively operated as a relatively hard non-flexible "spot" on the ankle portion that added to its weight and to the difficulty of closing the ankle portion about the user's own ankle. The patch also added weight to the garment as a whole, and had little ornamental value in that manufacturers were forced to purchase a minimum lot or quantity of the patch material, say, a thousand yards at a minimum, and since that quantity provided the patches for many garments, typically they chose only black for the patch material, since to assemble two or more colors, would take a production of far too many garments to consume the minimum allotment of each color.